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Completing the opening of the Country Inn saga.

Built on the former site of the misspelled “Town Getto,” the stylish La Conner Country Inn has hosted and provided lodging for some of the country’s biggest names.

None bigger, of course, than the late basketball legend turned actor Wilt Chamberlain.

Rick Thompson, an original Country Inn partner, remembers Chamberlain’s stay here quite well.

“In the summer of 1980, I think, but could have been 1981,” Thompson related, “it was a beautiful June morning when I received a call from our front desk that Wilt Chamberlain had spent the night and needed a ride to the marina. He was headed with friends with a boat to the San Juans to look at property. So, I jumped into my trusty 1974 Ford Maverick and drove over to the Inn.

“As I arrived,” said Thompson, “Wilt was standing outside the front door enjoying the sunny morning. At 7’-2”, he was quite an imposing figure and not easily missed on the streets of La Conner. As I drove up, a friend drove down Second Street in the opposite direction. He saw Wilt standing there and immediately put on the brakes. He leaned out of the car and in a very loud stage whisper, asked: ‘Hey, Rick, is that Bill Russell?’ Wilt seemed to take that in stride.”

Russell, of course, was the former head coach of the Seattle Supersonics, a resident of Mercer Island and Chamberlain’s chief NBA rival during the 1960s.

“I parked and then introduced myself to Wilt,” Thompson said. “I told him I would drive him to the marina but that the vehicle involved was a Ford Maverick.”

Chamberlain, who had previously appeared in commercials and print ads for the Volkswagen Beetle, was more than understanding, said Thompson.

“He was very gracious and fine with that,” Thompson said. “He also complimented us on our doors. The doors in the Inn are eight feet. He mentioned that he did not often stay in rooms where he did not have to duck.

“However,” quipped Thompson, “how he dealt with the standard double bed in his room, he did not say and I did not ask.

“I pulled up in the Maverick,” Thompson said, “and loaded his luggage. He opened the passenger door, turned sideways, sat down with his legs outside the car, then swiveled his way into the car. His legs were literally directly under his chin. But the marina isn’t far and he was quite grateful for the ride.”

Chamberlain had already made his presence elsewhere in town. He earlier shopped at the former Food Center grocery store across from Town Square, a block west of the Country Inn.

La Conner native David Bretvick, then a Food Center employee, remembers it well.

“I actually wasn’t working that night but went to the Food Center to buy some water as I was on my way to play basketball with the Swinomish,”

Bretvick said. “My friend, Maria Guzman, was working the register. As I walked in, she exclaimed, ‘Dave, guess who’s in the store!’ She said it was Wilt Chamberlain. I said: ‘No way!’ But then I saw the top of his head above the shelves. He approached me and asked: ‘Excuse me, sir, do you know where they keep the Vienna Sausage?’ I said: ‘Yes, I do,’ and escorted him to the proper location. He thanked me and I followed him to the checkout line as he purchased a few other items.

“I probably should’ve asked him if he might have been interested in a game of pickup basketball at Swinomish,” Bretvick, who had played high school basketball, added. “Wouldn’t that have been cool?”

Other celebrities would also sign the Country Inn guest register. Actors Jim Davis (Jock Ewing on the TV series “Dallas”) and Adam West (who portrayed Batman on television), former Washington Gov. John Spellman, Seattle Mayor Charles Royer and popular Northwest media celebrity Chris Wedes, better known regionally as J.P. Patches, Thompson cited.

None, though, likely made a bigger impression than the sports icon fondly referred to as The Big Dipper.